Festival international du film d’animation d’Annecy 2016: Premiere of the new Disney•Pixar FINDING DORY and ceremony of Disney Art Challenge

THE 2016 ANNECY INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL
IS HOSTING FOR THE FIRST TIME
THE 4TH EDITION OF

AND WILL PREVIEW THE NEW FEATURE-LENGTH ANIMATION FROM PIXAR STUDIOS

Le Festival du Film d’animation d’Annecy, the perfect rendez-vous
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival is the must-go-to event for animation pros and fans alike and this year will be paying tribute to French animation, making it an obvious choice to expose the works of budding artists and reveal the name of the three laureates of the Disney Art Challenge grants to help them complete their training.
“We are hosting the Disney Art Challenge and previewing Finding Dory with great pleasure. The Annecy Festival welcomes around 2000 students every year to meet animation professionals, making our event the natural home for such an initiative” Marcel Jean, Artistic Director, Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
“It’s particularly motivating to support and honor the new generation of animators, and I sincerely thank the RECA to support the project and the Festival for hosting us for the fourth Disney Art Challenge prize giving” Jean-François Camilleri, President of The Walt Disney Company France. Ocean, theme of the 4th edition of the Disney Art Challenge

Students from the 25 schools in the RECA network are invited to create a piece on the theme “What goes on under the ocean?” directly inspired by FINDING DORY, Disney.Pixar’s new animated feature to be released in France on 22 June. Entries should be submitted between 15 February and 15 April, and can use traditional or digital techniques to execute their concept art and present a character and set based on the theme.
An exceptional jury chaired by John Lasseter
John Lasseter, Artistic Director of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, will again chair the jury this year alongside Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Finding Dory). Jury members include director Arthur de Pins, author of the comic book series Péchés mignons, La Marche du crabe, et Zombillenium whose adaptation as an animated feature he will be directing; and Alexandre Heboyan, notably co-director of the computer-animated adventure fantasy Mune: Guardian of the Moon and who also worked on Kung Fu Panda for Dreamworks.
The other jury members are journalists Caroline Vié (20 Minutes) and Laurent Cotillon (Le Film Français); Caroline Cherrier – winner last year -, Jean-Jacques Launier, founder of Art Ludique-Le Musée and Jean-François Camilleri, President of The Walt Disney Company France, that had the idea of the Disney Art Challenge.
The jury will draw up a shortlist of 10 works to be submitted to Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Dory and John Lasseter, Artistic Director of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios.
The General Public, member of the jury
As well as that, art-lovers will be able to vote for their favorite entry among the 10 on the shortlist between 4-23 July for the Audience Award (Prix du Public) that awards a Disney Art Challenge grant to the winner. To take part, nothing could be more simple: go to www.disney.fr/art-challenge and vote for your favorite piece. The work that gets the highest number of votes will win the first Prix du Public.
Registration and rules athttp://www.disney.fr/films/art-challenge

PRESS RELEASE
About RECA
RECA, the French Network of Animated Cinema Schools (Réseau des Écoles de Cinéma d’Animation) regroups 25 French animation schools that are highly regarded by professionals in France and abroad. The National Cinema Centre (Centre National du Cinéma, CNC) encouraged and supported its creation, as did employer organizations from the profession: the Animated Film Producers Syndicate (Syndicat des producteurs de films d’animation, SPFA); The Federation of Cinema, Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries (Fédération des industries du cinéma, de l’audiovisuel et du multimédia, FICAM); as well as Pôle Image Magélis in Angoulême; ArtFx – Montpellier; Arts et Technologies de l’Image – Université Paris 8 (ATI) – Saint-Denis; École de Communication Visuelle (ECV) – Aquitaine; École Émile Cohl – Lyon; École Estienne – Paris; École Georges Méliès – Orly; École Pivaut – Nantes; École des métiers du cinéma d’animation (EMCA) – Angoulême; École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (ENSAD) – Paris; École supérieure des arts appliqués et du textile (ESAAT) – Roubaix; École supérieure des métiers artistiques (ESMA) – Montpellier; École supérieure de métiers artistiques (ESMA) – Toulouse; Bellecour ESIA 3D – Lyon; ESRA 3D (Sup’Infograph) – Paris; ESRA 3D (Sup’Infograph) – Rennes; Gobelins, l’école de l’image – Paris; Institut de l’image dans l’Océan Indien (ILOI) – La Réunion; Institut Sainte-Geneviève – Paris; ISART Digital – Paris; La Poudrière – Valence; L’atelier – Angoulême; L’idem – Le Soler; L’institut supérieur des arts appliqués (LISAA) – Paris; MOPA (ex Supinfocom Arles); and Supinfocom Valenciennes.
About The Walt Disney Company France
The Walt Disney Company is a leading international family entertainment and media enterprise. Disney is among the top 30 Dow Jones companies, with a turnover of $42 billion in 2012 and over 150,000 employees in over 40 countries worldwide. A synonym for quality family entertainment that has always cultivated the art of storytelling, Disney is the world’s leading media entertainment brand (Interbrand Study, 2012). Thanks to the breadth and diversity of our brands (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ABC, ESPN and others) and our products, combined with a unique legacy that speaks to all the members of the family, The Walt Disney Company has no equal in the entertainment and media sector.
About The Annecy International Animation Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, created in 1960, and its market (MIFA), created in 1985, is the largest event in the world devoted to animation. At Annecy you can discover the latest animation masterpieces, meet established artists and young talents, trend spot, and find the ideal partner, all in one place. It is the biggest and most highly-acknowledged event of its kind in the world. It is a reference: the “Cannes” of animation.
About Finding Dory
In Finding Dory, the new feature-length animation from Disney Pixar, Dory, the amnesiac Pacific regal blue tang meets up again with her friends Nemo and Marlin. The three of them try to discover Dory’s past.
The film is directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) and produced by Lindsey Collins (WALL-E co-producer). The original voices are by Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Eugene Levy, and Diane Keaton. Finding Dory will be released in France on 22 June 2016.